'You hit a what?' SUV nearly slams into elephant

[Francis2004]

'You hit a what?' SUV nearly slams into elephant

OKLAHOMA CITY — It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant? A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus.

"Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!'"

Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 130 km north of Oklahoma City.

"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."

The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.

"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.

After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cell phone to call police.

CTV News | 'You hit a what?' SUV nearly slams into elephant

I would not want to even come close to hitting such an animal..

 

[karrie]

I'd think you'd probably get a delay while your brain tried to catch up to reality.

"I think I see something in the road. But it can't actually be an elephant, so I must not actually be seeing anything at all."

 

[AnnaG]

hhmmm A "giant pachyderm"? Now what would that look like? A Mastodon (8 tons)? A Mammoth (also about 8 tons)? Newspeople are odd. As far as I can tell all pachyderms are BIG., but a giant one? And females are smaller than males and Indian elephants are smaller than African. I am impressed.

 

[Cliffy]

hhmmm A "giant pachyderm"? Now what would that look like? A Mastodon? A Mammoth? Newspeople are odd. As far as I can tell all pachyderms are BIG., but a giant one? And females are smaller than males. I am impressed.

There used to be Pygmy Mastodons running around here (but you probably knew that).

 

[AnnaG]

We were on our way to visit in Kloneville one time, it was dark and we were between Kloneville and Rock Creek. We saw a greyish blob wandering along the highway in the same direction we were heading. Thought it might have been a deer but it was blob shaped when we got closer to see better. Turned out to be one great big grandaddy porcypine. Gawd that thing was big.
Good year to collect quills. Not so good for porcies, though. Lots of road kill.Dad and I made lots of quill jewelry that year.

 

[AnnaG]

There used to be Pygmy Mastodons running around here (but you probably knew that).

sub branch of the Columbian mastodons. Weighed about a ton.

 

[AnnaG]

There used to be Pygmy Mastodons running around here (but you probably knew that).

sub branch of the Columbian mastodons. Weighed about a ton.
Actually the 8 ton mastodons and mammoths I was talking about were the smallest of the weight range. they both went up to about 10 tons. Twice the size of an Indian elephant. Just looked it up.

 

[Cliffy]

sub branch of the Columbian mastodons. Weighed about a ton.
Actually the 8 ton mastodons and mammoths I was talking about were the smallest of the weight range. they both went up to about 10 tons. Twice the size of an Indian elephant. Just looked it up.

Boy! One of those puppies would make short work of my Mazda 323 if they stepped on it!8O (and me like a bug in it).
Q - "What's the red stuff between the Mastodon's toes?"
A - "Cliffy's car."

 

[#juan]

Oh boy!
An elephant joke.

What you get when you cross an elephant with a peanut butter sandwich?

You either get a sandwich that never forgets, or an elephant that sticks to the roof of your mouth...:lol::lol::lol::lol: